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It's been 3,065 days since the U.S. men's national team participated in a World Cup. Today, the wait was over. It's been dark age for United States soccer over the past few years, but that is now behind us. The Yanks are hungry and they are ready to take Qatar by storm. Well, that's the hope at least.
The first matchup was against FIFA's 19th ranked, Wales. USA came out of the gates hot, with Pulisic drawing a foul and winning his free kick in his first touch. Yellow cards by Sergino Dest and Weston McKennie in the first 15 minutes slowed things down. After being scoreless for over half an hour, Tim Weah, the son of 1995 FIFA World Player of the Year, became the 23rd US player to score in the World Cup. Little historic milestone for USA, as Tim Weah became the first player to score against Wales in a FIFA World Cup since Pelé in 1958.
It lasted until the 81st minute, when Gareth Bale equalized the match. USA was playing far superior for the majority of the match, but were quickly gassed at the end. It was a full display of cramps and subs for this match. USMNT had posession 59% of the match, taking 6 shots, with the sole on target being Weah's goal. They drew 10 fouls and committed 15, with 4 yellow cards and 1 offsides.
It was almost too close for comfort towards the close when Goalkeeper Matt Turner, who played a decent match denying Wales, popped out of the net at the end of the match, but Wales quickly secured the ball. Kellyn Acosta delivered a crucial yellow in the 100th minute, potentially saving a game winning goal from his LAFC teammate, Gareth Bale.
It was also worth noting that USA did got screwed on some officiating calls, but it's no excuse on not closing out the game with a win. It's going to be a long tournament.
Up next is the Revolution Rematch. England on Black Friday. Let's Go! England just punished Iran in a 6-2 result, so this is going to be a crucial and difficult matchup, as anticipated.
